Bhubaneswar: Police have arrested a contract killer named Lalu Kumar in connection with the brutal murder of a young woman named Sasmita Das, who was killed just a day after her engagement.
Lalu Yadav was apprehended from Kaimur district in Bihar and is scheduled to be produced before a local court on Saturday.
According to police, Sasmita Das of Kathiapada village in Jagatsinghpur district was murdered on April 20. The crime was allegedly masterminded by her former lover, Suryakant Swain, who could not accept her engagement to another man. Police investigations revealed that Suryakant hired Lalu Yadav to eliminate Sasmita.
After committing the murder, both the accused had fled and gone into hiding. Suryakant Swain was earlier arrested by Jagatsinghpur Police from Jamshedpur in a special operation. With the arrest of Lalu Yadav, police have now claimed to have solved the high-profile case.
Addressing the media, Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police Ankit Berma said, “Lalu Kumar and Suryakant Swain came to Jagatsinghpur from Jamshedpur on April 13 and stayed at a lodge. They made several attempts to murder the woman between April 13 and 15 but failed. They then returned to Jamshedpur.”
The SP further added, “After learning about the woman’s engagement, they returned again on April 17. Suryakant called Sasmita to a field, where both of them hacked her to death. Suryakant had promised to pay Lalu Kumar Rs 2 lakh for the murder and had already given him Rs 20,000 as advance.”
